Final 2015 Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, Nov 15, 2015  9:30-12:00

Nine people who came to work on this gorgeous fall day.  We got a lot accomplished:

 Took down the big Locust near the Paddler's dock, cut it up and put it in the dumpster

 Section 5 - Raked under the Big Pine and put down mulch

 Cut and poisoned tree saplings in section 4, esp Indigo Bush but also Cottonwood.

 Remove suckers/other growth from the big Cottonwood tree by the dragon boat storage.

 Section 4 - Removed various vines along the seawall - briars, porcelainberry, clematis, Mile-a-minute, etc.

Bob & Diana cut up branches to fit in the dumpster.           Malcolm spent HOURS clearing vines.

 Peggy & Andy took out growth around the Cottonwood.   Marilyn cleared under the Big Pine & Andy just does it all!

Notes: Tasks for 2016 work session !

 Mulch the trees/shrubs in Section 5. 

 Maintain the viewing area under the Big Pine.

 Cut and poison tree saplings in all sections, esp Indigo Bush

 Remove Loosestrife from all sections

 Encourage the Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) in section 5, but not under the Pine.  And the Milkweed.

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Mulch.

 Work on new plantings, re: Jorge's recommendations:  Indian Rice, and other natives.     

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, Nov 1, 2015  9:30-12:30

Six of us worked together on the following tasks:

 Mulched most of the shrubs along the parking lot.

 Cut and poisoned Indigo Bush in Section 4  - a big job. More to do.

 Cleared and used the weed whacker under the Big Pine.  

 Hauled the remaining mulch to the Big Pine in prep for spreading in that space

Notes: Tasks for November 15 work session 

 Cut down the big Locust near Paddler's dock

 Mulch the trees/shrubs in Section 5. 

 Rake under the Big Pine and put down mulch

 Cut and poison tree saplings in all sections, esp Indigo Bush

 Remove Loosestrife from section 1.

 Remove suckers from old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Work on new plantings, re: Jorge's recommendations:  Indian Rice, and other natives, etc.   

Malcolm removing tick-trefoil from his clothes.     We used Jim's car to haul mulch.                 We didn't catch Janet, Ray and Glinda on camera!

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, Sept 20, 2015  9:30-12:30

A the usual band of 5-6 people worked on several goals in the bioswale this morning.  Mary and Andy tackled the small patch of Phragmites that has been taking hold near the first Bald Cypress in section 1.  It was challenging work to remove and required digging deep to get at the rhizomes.  We'll need to keep an eye on that spot.  Malcolm spent time clearing vines from around the Milkweed patch and made good progress. We all attacked the area under and around the Big Pine and removed a ton of vines, etc, all of which had to be hauled to the dumpster in many wheel barrow loads.  Andy experimented with taking down one big limb from the black locust next the Paddler's dock, which had to be cut up and carried off.  We'll get to the rest of the big black locust tree next session... the goal is to take it all down.  

Notes: Tasks for October work session 
 Mulch all of the trees/shrubs cleared out last month (Serviceberry, PawPaw, River Birch, etc)

 Cut and poison all tree saplings in all sections.  

 Remove Loosestrife from section 1.

 Remove suckers from old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Work on new plantings, re: Jorge's recommendations:  Indian Rice, and other natives, etc.   

The Bioswale Office is Jim's car trunk!                      Part of todays ambitious crew!

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, Aug 30, 2015

A great crowd of 14 came this Sunday.  The focus was cleaning up problems around the paddler's dock, where porcelain berry and other vines were covering trees and a large stump. A large sycamore had started under the ramp and needed to be removed.

The following tasks were accomplished: 

• Removed the sycamore growing from under the dock
• Removed one of the Pawpaw trees - we'll keep one of them
• Removed the small Mulberry growing beside the Pawpaw
• Removed a small locust growing on the west side of the dock
• Removed the Porcelainberry vines from the stump and around that area - there were ALOT of vines
• Removed the stump -  a Mulberry under all the vines

Here is the plan for removing and protecting trees around the paddler's dock for 8/30

  Trees to be removed             Trees to be cleared around and mulched

Notes: Tasks for September work session 

 Remove the phragmites from section 1.

 Mulch all of the trees/shrubs clear out last month (Serviceberry, PawPaw, River Birch, etc)

 Cut and poison all tree saplings in all sections.  

 Remove Loosestrife from section 1.

 Remove suckers from old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Work on new plantings, re: Jorge's recommendations:  Indian Rice, etc.   

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Six of us dove into task this morning.    

The following tasks were accomplished: 

 Cut and poison all tree saplings in sections 1, 2, and 3.  

 Remove Loosestrife from section 1.

Tasks for August Work Session: 

• Remove the sycamore growing from under the dock
• Remove one of the Pawpaw trees - we'll keep one of them
• Remove the small Mulberry growing beside the Pawpaw
• Remove a small locust growing on the west side of the dock
• Remove the Porcelainberry vines from the stump and around that area - there were ALOT of vines
• Remove the stump -  a Mulberry under all the vines
• Clear around the River Birch next to the paddler's dock, and limb it up
• Clear around the fenced Serviceberry (three of them I think)
• Clear around the red twig dogwood bushes near the river edge, down river from paddlers’ dock
• Clean up the edge of the river directly upstream from the dogwood bushes
• Clear around the other River Birches, downstream from the paddlers’ dock 

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, June 28, 2015 

We had seven good workers today.  We moved the time to 9:30-12:30 and it worked great.  Thank you Kate for the delicious Mexican casserole for breakfast! Mary brought coffee.  

The following tasks were accomplished:

  Removed & cut up the large locust tree we had left in section 4.  The new open view is nice. 

  Removed several smaller black locust from other areas of the bioswale.

  Mulched shrubs along the parking lot

  Moved logs into the dumpster, as best we could.

Notes: Tasks for July work session 

 Cut and poison all tree saplings in sections 1, 2, and 3.  

 Remove Loosestrife from section 1.

 Remove suckers from blk locust near Paddlers, old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Remove the Sycamore sapling coming from under the paddlers' dock

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Work on new plantings, re: Jorge's recommendations:  Indian Rice, etc.  

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, May 31, 2015 

Eight volunteers worked on a very hot Sunday morning.  The suggestion was made to hold the next work session earlier - starting at 9:30 am.  

The goal for today was to accomplish the following tasks: 

  Continued work on removing Yellow Flag Iris from all areas of the bioswale. 

  Removed the old shell used as a planter last year next to the bioswale sign

Notes - Tasks for June: 

 Contact AWS botanist, Jorge Montero, and ask him to visit.  Discuss condition of the bioswale and set goals. 

 Update volunteers on results of the meeting with Jorge.  Set clear new goals for the 5 areas.

AWS/ACBA Earth Day Cleanup and Bioswale Work Session

Saturday, April 25, 2015 

Today we had a combined effort between several groups signed up through AWS for the Earth Day river cleanup and a regular ACBA work session in the bioswale. Altogether 62 people put in a long morning of work along the river and roads near the boathouse.  To be added to our Earth Day count is a work session on April 19th by a group of 35 Bishop Ireton High School rowers who conducted their own cleanup by picking up trash along the river on the boathouse site in the bioswale and parking lot. (See the April 19 summary, below)  Kudos for an incredible effort from all volunteers!  

The following tasks were accomplished:

  AWS Earth Day River Cleanup - trash pick up along river, roads, and bike path

  ACBA Monthly Bioswale Work Session

 AWS Earth Day River Cleanup 

The following tasks were accomplished:

  Trash pickup along the road and river up to the RFK parking lot.

  Intensive cleanup along the bike path curve at Barney Circle

  Moving trash and recyling bags from path worker to ACBA and Kingman Island

  Completion of AWS data sheet to record statistics

  Reporting to AWS the location of large trash items needing removal

[left ] Bill Cocke  (white cowboy hat) kicks off the cleanup with some words of inspiration for volunteers

 [Above] Capital Juniors scour the area along the RFK parking lot 

The volunteers generated 30 bags of trash, 30 bags of recyclables, and about 200 lbs of large items (chair, old heater, bicycle, metal pieces, etc).   Most of the bags were hauled either to the boathouse dumpster and recycling center, or to the Kingman Island area.  A pile of large trash items pulled from the edge of the road on Barney Circle was left there for next-day pickup by AWS.  

  ACBA Monthly Bioswale Work Session 

Sixteen intrepid volunteers tackled some very tough tasks in the bioswale.  The group included members of NCAWPA,  Go Pink, DC Strokes, and Capital's Club AM, Club PM, Competitive team, SAW, and Scullers.

The following tasks were accomplished:

  Digging Yellow flag iris and careful disposal.

  Removal of 5 bush/tree stumps from along the seawall

  Planting of two Rose Mallow Hibiscus replacement bushes

  Trash pick up along the edge of the river.

This team rebuked the new invasion of yellow flag iris that has appeared in the bioswale over the past year.  They produced at least 20 trash bags of the these slightly noxious and fast growing invasives.  

A team from Go Pink [pictured left] tackled the growth of black locust in several places in the bioswale.  They dug and clipped back the tough black locust stands and then applied a systemic herbicide to kill off the roots and prevent regrowth.   

Bioswale Maintenance 

This team [pictures below] worked to remove several live stumps that have been threatening the historic seawall and creating weedy growth in the west end of the bioswale (section 5).  The marvelous Marcel from Club PM volunteered the use of his truck to pull the stumps out, first wrapping them with sturdy moving straps and then driving off!  Five big stumps (estimated 200 lbs) were removed and deposited in the dumpster - what an effort!

Native Plant Restoration

This group planted two big Rose Mallow Hibiscus [right] in section 5 under the River Birches.  Hibiscus moscheutos is a native species appearing in the original landscaping plan for the bioswale, but apparently some of the original plants have not survived, so these are replacements

Notes: Tasks for May work session 

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Use clippers/chainsaw to limb up and remove suckers from blk locust near Paddlers, old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Clear the edge of the rocks in sections 1 and 2, using the work in section 3 as a model. 

 Remove the old shell used as a planter last year next to the bioswale sign

 Dig/remove Lespedeza from section 2, and there's some starting next to the ramp in section 4.

Bishop Ireton High School 

Sunday, April 19, 2015 - Earth Day Cleanup

by Jim Mitchell  

The BIHS cleanup included both parents and rowers.  With the low tide we were even able to pull that nasty rug out of the river near the boathouse.  Here are a couple of photos from today.  This is only a very small part of the trash we took out, probably approached 20-25 bags. 

We cleaned the entire area in front of the boathouse from The Dragon Boat launch area to the adjoining yacht club.  I only took photos in that one area but the entire bioswale was cleaned.  We picked up anything that was not natural.  We did separate some of the recyclables but I used my  discretion to have really soiled plastic treated as trash.  From my experience with Waste Management and their recycling requirements they get really upset with heavily soiled plastic being commingled with “clean” plastic.  We collected 20-25 thirty-gallon bags of trash.

Total head count between the coaches, parent and rowers was 35. We found a couple of skulls in the bioswale. Probably opposums.  Nasty fangs.  Also while working in the boathouse I found a couple of nasty little snakes.  Small, probably Eastern Brown Snakes, but they did not like being messed with.  Coiled and struck many time while I retrieved them. Threw them in the river and they swam into the bioswale.  

A big thanks to the BI students, parents and coaches for a job well done!  

          ... Mary Ellsworth,   Jim Smailes, coordinators of monthly Bioswale Work Sessions. 

Bioswale Work Session

Sunday, March 29, 2015 

This was the first work session in 2015.  Two volunteers came to help ... we did not advertise this session much, as we had just a few tasks to get done this early in the year.  Both were from CRC (SAW & PM).

The following tasks were accomplished:

 Clipped small bushes and growth from along the edge of the rocks in section 3.  

 Processed all of the driftwood in the pile next to the dumpster and got it into the dumpster.

 Prepared plans for April 25 AWS Earth Day

Our next work session will be the AWS Earth Day event.  Jim and Mary created a plan for making use of volunteers from Capital Juniors and others from the community.  Meanwhile the following task are on our list:

Notes: Tasks for Earth Day work session - April 29, 2015 

  Send Juniors a plan for dividing up in teams and tackling trash pick-up in nearby areas

  Work with Harlan to recruit, set up ACBA info table, plan for snacks.  

  Complete the task list - recruiting, snacks, new shovels, buy mulch, trashbags, and herbicide

 Mount Earth Flags on ACBA gate

 Team 1: Clear and mulch trees and shrubs along edge of parking lot

 Team 2: Remove invasive yellow flag iris  (train this team)

 Team 3: Dig out several bush stumps threatening the historic sea wall

 Team 4: plant Hibiscus (maybe - if Mary can find the correct species)

Notes: Tasks for May work session 

 Continue working to clear visual space in section 5 for viewing the river.  Some mulching would be good.  

 Use a saw/chainsaw to limb up and remove suckers from blk locust near Paddlers, old tree along the road, and the big tree by dragon boat storage.

 Clear the edge of the rocks in sections 1 and 2, using the work from today in section 3 as a model. 

 Align and clean up the logs along the edge of the parking lot to improve the looks

 Remove the old shell used as a planter last year next to the bioswale sign

 It was suggested that a couple of picnic tables would be nice down near or under the Big Pine. 

 Dig/remove Lespedeza from section 2, and there's some starting next to the ramp in section 4.

 Contact HS Coach Bobby Brown about how our HS teams can help with the bioswale work.

Gulls standing (not floating) on the emerging sandbar just off the docks.